TODAY, a large proportion of the Australian populace is groaning after hearing of the measures which have been brought down in the 2014 budget.<\/p>\n
Last September, many of those people blithely voted for the Liberal and National coalition and propelled them into government.<\/p>\n
There’s just one thing to say to this mob: suck it up.
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\nAbbott has brought in a rise in university fees, something in keeping with this government’s anti-intellectual character.<\/p>\n
There is no mention of climate change and no planning for it; this will again affect the younger generation who will have to cope with a warmer world when they grow up.<\/p>\n
Abbott has also ensured that Australians no longer have universal healthcare. Everyone who visits a doctor, apart from those who have seniors cards or healthcards, will have to pay $7. Those who have medicine prescribed will have to fork out another $5 per prescription.<\/p>\n
Some part of this money will go into a medical research fund which is touted as reaching $20 billion by 2020, six years from now.<\/p>\n
But the figures don’t add up. Let’s assume that Australia has 23 million people (the actual figure is a wee bit less) and that every one of those people goes to the doctor 10 times a year. That adds up to 230 million visits; multiply that by $7 and you get $1,610,000,000.<\/p>\n
The doctor gets $2 of the $7 fee so this measure will raise $1,150,000,000 for the fund.<\/p>\n
Let’s again assume that each Australian gets five prescriptions; that gives us 115 million prescriptions and at $5 a pop it gives us $575 million. That makes it a grand total of $1.725 billion.<\/p>\n
Over six years, we get $10.35 billion. Let’s add $1 billion as interest over those six years, assuming the money is invested as it comes in. Yes, it’s a high rate of interest, but never mind.<\/p>\n
The government has said it is putting in $1.1 billion at the start; in total, that gives us $12.46 billion in all.<\/p>\n
Where does the other $7-odd billion come from?<\/p>\n
Abbott can’t do sums, it appears. Neither can his treasurer Joe Hockey. Nor his finance minister Matthias Cormann.
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